We are identified by our face, our appearance, our personality, our education, our work, our income, the friends we keep, the house we live in, the car we drive, the holidays that we take, the pictures that we post, the camera that we use to take that picture, the cell phone that we use, the apps that are installed in that phone, our profile on facebook, the people that tag us in those pictures on facebook, the hash-tags on Instagram and Twitter.
So many dimensions, yet they have one thing in common. They are what we project. Take these away, and can our existence be explained any longer? How about the impact that we made on other people’s lives? Considering the maximum of our present social interaction is online, I guess the above list should pretty much cover this aspect. The minimal personal and social intercourse that do occur, we tend to conform to these projections. In short, we all are participants in this big masquerade called life.
I tried to come up with one facet that is truly real, that we can truly call our own without any influence, and I fail to find one. Maybe I am too stupid to find one, too proud to admit I am wrong or maybe it’s just a fact. Society binds us together, and however pretty the thread that bind us are, they are still something that keep us restrained. The paradox is that it is these binds that restrict us as an individual, keep all the individuals together in a group as friends, a family or a society in general.
Given an option to break away from the norm, I wonder how many of us would continue wearing the masks that we wear now, how many will exchange one mask for another, and how many would break free from all restrictions? And even if someone dares to break free, will it be possible to recognize it? For a big enough prison, it is difficult to differentiate between the imprisoned and the free. Can a checker piece survive in a chess board and it’s rules? Do we truly want to be free? Or more importantly, do we even know how to be free?
One response to “The mask”
So, you went online, logged on to the social websites, got bored of it, then you thought "fu#k this $hit", and then wrote about it – online! Well done. 😀